Lauderdale County man sentenced to life in prison for 2014 double murder

A Lauderdale County man was sentenced Thursday to life in prison for the double murder of two women in 2014.

Mark Edwin Montgomery, 39, of Florence was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole by Circuit Judge Mike Jones. Montgomery pleaded guilty in May to capital murder in the March 17, 2014, slayings of Joanna Butler, 40, and 57-year-old Clo Ann Stoner.

The women were shot to death during an argument between Montgomery and Stoner at Montgomery's home on County Road 10, according to investigators. Montgomery also shot and killed a dog before fleeing the scene.